July Favourites

(L-R Dior Amber Diamond, Rimmel Nude Delight)

Is it really August tomorrow? This has been the fastest year ever. Anyway, I haven't done a monthly favourites post in a while so thought I'd share with you some products I've been reaching for this month. Some of them are products I've had for a while and recently rediscovered my love for and a couple are new favourites.

Dior Amber Diamond - The weather had (not anymore) been gorgeous this month so my go to every day look was bronzed and natural and I loved finishing it off with a dusting of Amber Diamond highlighter on my cheekbones and brow bone. I won this highlighter in Emma's blog giveaway last November and it's been a favourite highlighter in my collection ever since. I also love using it in the inner corners of my eye when I'm going on a night out, it looks gorgeous with a gold smoky eye. Also, there is hardly a dent in it, it's lasting me so long so I think it's definitely worth the £32.00 price tag as it's such a gorgeous, luxury product. I really want to get my hands on Rose Diamond as well.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo - This is my third tube of the Effaclar Duo but up until recently I had run out and was using an Origins moisturiser instead. While I liked it, I definitely noticed a difference in my skin when I went back to using the Effaclar Duo. I feel like my skin is much clearer and my pores aren't as clogged when I'm using this, so it's here to stay from now on. I got this for £13.00 from Boots.

Batiste Dry Shampoo XXL Volume - I always need at least two cans of Batiste dry shampoo in my drawer as it's one of my favourite hair products. The main reason is because I'm far too lazy to wash my hair all the time but I also love that it gives my hair some extra volume - I even use dry shampoo after I've washed my hair to give it some texture. My favourite one at the moment is the XXL Volume, it's gives my hair amazing volume without back combing as well as refreshing it between washes. I've tried so many dry shampoos but they never work as well for me as Batiste does, it's also one of the cheapest!

Rimmel Nude Delight - I've finally found the perfect nude lipstick for me, yay! Now that I've got a tan and my skins darker some of my nude lipsticks look a bit light on me but Nude Delight is just perfect. It's a bit darker and more brown than my usual nudes but it works well with my skin tone. This is one of the Moisture Renew lipsticks so it's not drying on the lips at all which I love. I've been reaching for this a lot this month whether it be for work or a night out. I really recommend it if you've got slightly darker skin and looking for a nude that doesn't give you the dreaded 'concealer lips' look.

Chanel Perfection Lumiere - As I've ran out of my all time favourite foundation, Armani Lumious Silk I've been reaching for my Perfection Lumiere this month. I bought this a while ago and hardly used it but now I've been wearing it almost every day and I've fell back in love with it. This is one of the highest coverage Chanel foundations and also has more of a matte finish than the rest which has been perfect for the warmer weather (no shiny t-zone). Even though the coverage is medium/high it still gives me a really natural finish. I reviewed this foundation back in March and you can also see me wearing it in this post here.

MAC 217 Brush - I have no idea how I coped before this brush was in my life as this is essential for doing my eye makeup these days, especially to blend out a smoky eye. I like to apply my eye shadow in my crease then use a clean 217 to blend it out for a seamless look. Thank you Pixiwoo and Tanya Burr for telling me I needed this brush in my collection, you were right! I'm thinking of picking up another one so that I have one to apply my eye shadow and a clean one to blend.

So that's all the products I've been loving this month. What are some of your July favourites?

Summer Haul

Bikinis: All H&M (Clockwise - Top & Bottoms both £3.99, Black Top & Bottoms both £3.99, Ombre Fringe Top £9.99 & Bottoms £7.99)

 Lace Crop Top: New Look £14.99

 Top/Dress: H&M £7.99 Playsuit: New Look £14.99

Clutch Bag: Primark £6, Earring: Primark £2.50, Necklace: Primark £4, Sunglasses: H&M £6.99

 Lauren Conrad Books: Amazon £4-£8

Essie Maximilian Strasse Her: Boots £7.99, Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation: Boots £8.99

Recently I've picked up a few things for my Summer and for my holiday to Portugal so I thought I'd do a haul post. I'm going away two weeks on Wednesday and have almost got everything I need apart from toiletries (my favourite thing to shop for). The one thing I struggle with is packing lightly, especially when it comes to bikinis! Last year I went to Ibiza for a week and took 8 with me but this year I'm going to narrow it down to 4. I've bought three new bikinis this year and they're all from H&M which is my favourite place to shop for bikinis. They have such a big selection at really reasonable prices (even better that I get my staff discount), I absolutely love the green ombre fringe one that I've seen a few bloggers with which also comes in brown/orange.

I still have a lot of holiday clothes from last year but thought I'd pick up a few new things for night time. I love the lace crop top I picked up in New Look and can't wait to wear it with my high-waisted shorts. I also got a dress from H&M to wear with a gold belt and gladiator sandals and finally my favourite outfit for wearing on holiday - a playsuit. I always take at least 3 playsuits away with me because they're so easy to chuck on and dress up or down.

This year I've been really disappointed with the Summer clothes in Primark, I couldn't find anything that looked nice on and the rare pieces I did like weren't in my size. However, I did manage to get a few accessories and will probably go back for another look. My favourite is the clutch bag, I think it looks much more expensive that £6 and the laser cut out with the neon yellow underneath is gorgeous. I've also been wearing my H&M sunglasses ever day that the suns been out.

I've already got Lauren Conrad's Style book and the LA Candy trilogy so I decided to get the Beauty book and the first two books from The Fame Game trilogy. So far I've been loving reading all the tips in the Beauty book and have a post lined up of a Lauren Conrad inspired makeup look. I meant to save the two novels to read on holiday but I'm already half way through the second one - oops! I love a bit of chick-lit.

Ever since I bought the Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer, I've been dying to try the foundation. So far I'm really liking it but it's slightly too light for me and the darker shade was too pink for my skin. I'll do a full review on it soon. And finally, my most recent purchase Essie Maximilian Strasse Her. This polish is part of the Spring 2013 collection so I wanted to get my hands on it before it was sold out (I might have raked through the drawers below the stands in Boots to find it). It's a cool grey/green shade and I can see myself wearing it a lot this Summer.

So that's some things that I've bought recently and I'll definitely do a post on which skincare and makeup I'll be buying for my holiday. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Rimmel Apocalips: Nude Eclipse & Big Bang

So I know you're probably all sick of the Apocalips posts already but I like to read them to decide what colour I'm going to go buy next! I was so excited when I seen that these were coming out as I'm such a big lipstick fan. As soon as these little beauties were released on Wednesday, I went in search for them and it only took me 2 Boots and a Superdrug later to finally get my hands on them. All of the colours were gorgeous but since I could only (barely) afford two, I went for Big Bang and Nude Eclipse. 

Incase you've been under a rock the past week or so, Apocalips are Rimmel's new lip laquers which are a mix between a lipstick and a lipgloss. They are so pigmented and the consistency is so creamy which feels lovely on the lips. You hardly need any product for it to be completely opaque, just one dip! The thing I like most about these is that they aren't sticky at all and are actually really comfortable to wear. They have a glossy finish but once they've been on for a couple of hours they do go matte, but the colour stays which is good. They also have a really lovely scent, I hate lipsticks that don't smell very nice (L'Oreal). 

Nude Eclipse as you can tell by the name is a nude colour. When I first swatched this, I thought it might look a bit like concealer on my lips but once I had my full face on and applied this, it actually looked really nice. I always like to have a good nude lipstick to go with black smoky eyes on a night out. This lasted for around 3 hours before I had to reapply it, it did try my lips out a tiny bit nearer the end.

Big Bang is a gorgeous blue/red, definitely my favourite of the two! Red lipsticks with a blue undertone are my favourite. I applied this at 6am (yuck) and by the time I had my break at work at half 10, it was still perfect. Even after eating, it was still on pretty good which never usually happens with my lipstick. I did have retouch it after eating though but I was still really impressed with the lasting power. The only thing I would say is that I found it quite hard to get a clean line with the red so I used a red lip liner first.

Overall, I love this product! I can't wait to get my hands on more, I think I'll end up buying them all eventually. They're such a bargain at £5.99 (Boots has them on 3 for 2 right now) and some are even saying they're a great dupe for the YSL Glossy Stains. Have you managed to get your hands on the Apocalips yet? Which shades did you go for?

Rimmel Precious Stones: Diamond Dust

Today I decided to play about with my Mum's DSLR she uses for work and also her Christmas decorations (she's definitely going to notice I touched the tree) and do a pretty, Christmassy post.

At Christmas time my favourite nail polish to wear is definitely glitter, its so festive! I have so many glitter nail polishes in my collection but could never seem to find one that was opaque enough to wear on it's own, until I discovered the Rimmel Precious Stones collection.

Precious Stones comes in two colours; Diamond Dust and Ruby Crush. I decided to go for Diamond Dust as I think it would go with more outfits during the party season. Rimmel describes this as a 'high coverage glitter nail polish' and I definitely agree it has high coverage. I only needed two coats for it to become completely opaque - amazing! I usually use glitter polish as a top coat as it takes so many layers to build it up, but this has really surprised me. It dries to a matte finish which doesn't bother me as I always put a shiny top coat over my nail polish anyway.

Precious Stones is a bargain at £3.99 and can be bought in Boots or Superdrug. It's definitely my new favourite glitter polish and I'll be picking up Ruby Crush asap.

Have you tried these nail polishes?

Big Beauty Haul

I thought I'd do a post on all the beauty products I've picked up over the last few weeks. I'm not going to go into much detail on some of the products though as I'll be doing full reviews on them soon. As you can see I think I've got a slight shopping problem...

• Real Techniques Core Collection: I've already got a few of the Real Techniques brushes and absolutely love them but the Core Collection has been on my wishlist from the start, mainly because of the Buffing Brush! The set comes with four face brushes; Detailer Brush, Pointed Foundation Brush, Buffing Brush and Contour Brush. I'll be using the Detailer brush for my concealer and the Countour Brush for powder highlighter. I'm not too sure whether or not I'll use the Foundation Brush as I've already got the Stippling Brush and Expert Face Brush for my foundation, however I can't wait to use the Buffing Brush to apply my foundation as I've heard its a favourite and gives you the most flawless finish. Any tips on what to use the Pointed Foundation brush for? This set costs £21.99.

• Armani Luminous Silk Foundation 6,5: When a couple of my friends from my old work tried this foundation and gave it such an amazing review, I decided I needed it. I also heard Kim Kardashian uses it and her skin always looks amazing. When I went to my local Armani counter and asked for it the girl looked at me for about 5 seconds before suggesting I go for the shade 6,5. She tried a bit on my jaw line and it blended in perfectly. This really is the perfect colour for my skin so I was really impressed with how good the girl on the counter was as I don't usually trust them and like to pick my own shade. I've only used this a couple of times and love it so far, I'll be doing a full review on it soon. It is a bit pricey at £34 but I got my friends House of Fraser discount on it.

• Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer Medium 3: I buy a lot of products because my sister has them and has either used them on me or raved about how good they are and this is one of them. I find it hard to find a good concealer and don't usually go for a liquid but I love this. It brightens up my dark circles and hides any blemishes I have. It also lasts all day which is perfect for when I'm at work. It's also a bargain at £4.19.

• Rimmel Stay Matte Powder 001 Transparent: This is another product my sister uses on me and I've also seen Tanya Burr use it a lot in her video tutorials. I always powder my foundation once I've applied it (one thing that's stuck with me from my Makeup Artist training) as it helps it last longer and I tend to get shiny during the day. I was running out of my Chanel Universal translucent powder but couldn't afford to spend £30 on a powder right now so I decided to pick this up. I usually use a loose powder but surprisingly I'm really liking this pressed powder and it doesn't go cakey when I touch it up during the day. Also a bargain at £3.99

• Revlon Grow Luscious Plumping Mascara Blackest Black: Another product I'm not going to go into much detail with as I'll do a full review on it. My sister uses this mascara and I also seen a review of it on Kayleigh's blog. I always use up my mascaras so quickly and wanted to try something different as I usually always go for Dior Show or Benefit They're Real. I've not used it much yet but I'll let you know what I think when I do my review. It only cost £9.99 as well which is a bonus.

• Benefit Brow Zings Dark: I've used my sisters one of this for months now and always love my eyebrows when she's used this on me. My eyebrows are so sparse with no shape if I don't fill them in and I'm such a fan of bold, statement brows so I thought it was about time to buy one of these for myself. Brow Zings costs £22.50 and I'll also be doing a full review on it soon.

• Rimmel Scandaleyes Kohl Eye Pencil 005 Nude:  I've seen this liner on a few beauty blogs recently and decided to pick one up when Boots 3 for 2 was on.  I use this on my waterline and it really brightens up my eyes, especially when I haven't had much sleep. 

• MAC Kohl Eye Pencil Feline: I've always got a black kohl liner in my makeup bag and usually reach for Rimmel Jet Black, but yet again my sister used this product on me and it lasted all night! I love finishing off a smokey eye with a kohl liner and this one's perfect, I can't wait to use it tonight. It's a bit pricey for an eyeliner, it costs around £15 but it's totally worth it. 

• MAC Lipstick Pink Nouveau and Creme D'Nude: I've now purchased my 11th and 12th MAC lipsticks and was thinking about what colours are missing from my collection. I didn't have a light pink or a true nude so decided to go with both of these. These are great everyday colours that can be worn all year round and Creme D'Nude will look great with a dark smokey eye on a night out, I love dark eyes and nude lips! These cost £14 each.

As you can see I've spent far too much money on beauty products lately but I just can't help myself. I think I need to go on a beauty spending ban!

My Lipstick Collection

I was sorting out all my makeup the other day and decided to look out all my lipsticks. I sat them all in a row to see what colours I had and decided it would make a great blog post to show you my collection. So if you have time, have a look at all the lipsticks I own. There doesn't seem to be a colour that I don't have so maybe I should stop buying lipsticks and move onto blushers now...

 The Purples

 (L-R) Kate Moss Rimmel #04//MAC Rebel//L'Oreal Colour Riche Plum Passion//MUA #2

The Reds

 (L-R) New CID Cosmetics Very Cherry//MAC Deeply Adored//MAC New York Apple//MAC Russian Red//Rimmel Lasting Finish Signature Red//L'Oreal Colour Rich Cheryl Cole Lipstick Red Passion//Topshop Mischief//MAC Lady Danger

The Oranges/Corals

 (L-R) Topshop Infrared//Rimmel Moisture Renew Coral Queen//YSL Rouge Volupte Rose Paris #27//Topshop Ohh La La//Look Beauty Tangerine Cream

The Pinks

 (L-R) MAC Girl About Town//Dior Rouge #565//Rimmel Lasting Finish Indulgence// MAC Impassioned//Louise Gray Topshop Legend//Barry M #62//FashionistA Baby Doll Pink

The Light Pinks/Nudes

(L-R) Rimmel Moisture Renew Vintage Pink//MAC Snob//MAC Angel//YSL Rouge Pur Couture Rose Bergamasque #6//YSL Rouge Volupte Sensual Silk #2

Are any of these lipsticks in your collection?

Melissa
xxx

Rimmel: Lasting Finish Lipstick by Kate Moss

Last year, Kate Moss launched a line of lipsticks for the brand Rimmel. The original collection had 7 shades but Kate has now brought out a second Spring collection with another 5 gorgeous colours. The lipstick contains Black Diamond pigments which makes it reflect in the light and create some amazing tones.

Up until last year, I never really wore any lipstick that wasn't nude or light pink as I wasn't brave enough. I worked my way up to dark pinks and reds but I'd always wanted to try a dark, vampy lipstick, so when I seen this shade while browsing in Superdrug I thought I would give it a try.

This lipstick shade is #04 and is a really dark purple colour. The texture is really moisturising and creamy and goes on my lips really well. I also found that on a night out I didn't have to reapply too much. I love the packaging as it has a 'signature' from Kate on it and a little heart which I think is really cute. The Kate Moss lipsticks cost £5.49 and can be purchased in Boots and Superdrug stores or online here.

Here's a picture of me on a night out wearing it so you can see what it's like on. I've actually only wore it once but definitely think it needs to come back out soon!

Have you tried any of the Kate Moss lipsticks? Would you wear this colour?

Melissa
xxx

OOTN 3

Top: H&M

Skirt: Therapy at House of Fraser

Shoes: New Look

Belt: New Look

Necklace: Primark

Hand Armour: Topshop

 MAC Studio Fix Fluid - NC30

UNE B.B Cream Concealer

Chanel Universal Bronzer

Chanel Universal Loose Powder

MAC Blush - Dolly Mix

Benefit High Beam

MAC Eye Shadow - Carbon

Barry M Dazzle Dust - Gold

Maybelline Gel Liner

Rimmel Kohl Liner - Jet Black

Dior Show New Look Mascara 

Primark Eyelashes

Barry M Lip Paint - 54

My friend Hazel did my hair and I loved it - she better do it every night in Ibiza!

On Saturday night I went out for my friends big sisters birthday and this is what I wore.
Hope you had a good weekend!
Melissa
xxxx

My Go To Smokey Eye

Products:

MAC Eye Shadow - Snow Season

MAC Eye Shadow - Carbon

Maybelline Gel Liner - Black

Rimmel Kohl Eye Liner - Jet Black

Dior Show Multi Dimensional Mascara - Black

When I'm doing my makeup for a night out I always go for a dark smokey eye as it makes me feel more dressed up. I start with a light coloured eye shadow (either a silver or a gold) and apply it all over my eye lid. I then take a black eye shadow and apply it to the outer corners of my eyes and blend it up to my brow bone using a small, round eye shadow brush. I define my eye using a gel liner along the top lid. I also apply the black shadow to my lower lash line and a black kohl liner on my water line. I finish off the look with loads of black mascara and most of the time fake lashes. My favourite are Eylure 140's. 

What's your go to night time look?

Melissa

xxx